ABSTRACT
I have argued that morality is defined in terms of certain first-order principles and that some more specific second-order principles can be derived from them. In this chapter, I want to suggest that some of what are widely classified as moral issues, though they may be serious issues, are not in fact specifically moral ones. In doing this, I hope to substantiate my argument that the principles outlined in Chapter 5 above are the foundations for determining what is right or wrong, and that morality has to be seen in terms of these principles rather than in terms of a set of prescribed and proscribed acts. Attempts to list examples of good and bad behaviour and to treat them as the essence of morality, as in the case of the Ten Commandments or the seven deadly sins, are inappropriate. We should think instead in terms of the general principles that need to be adhered to and the related characteristics of the moral person, such as the virtues of tolerance and open-mindedness referred to in the previous chapter.
